John 5:1–9 — The Healing at Bethesda
John 5:1–4 — The Pool and the Multitude
“After this, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.
In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.
For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.”
The Pool of Bethesda, meaning “House of Mercy,” was located near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem. It drew the desperate and the hopeful alike. Some believed that an angel’s stirring of the water could bring healing; yet, the scene captures more than human superstition, it reflects the world’s longing for restoration.
John 5:5–9 — Jesus Heals a Lame Man
“Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.
When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’
The sick man answered Him, ‘Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.’
Jesus said to him, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk.’
And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.”
Thirty-eight years of paralysis ended in a moment by the word of Christ. The man’s helplessness highlights our spiritual need; Jesus’ question, “Do you want to be made well?” is both literal and spiritual, requiring no ritual or water, only divine authority. Mercy meets Majesty.
John 5:10–16 — The Controversy Over the Sabbath
John 5:10–13 — The Jews Confront the Healed Man
“And that day was the Sabbath.
The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, ‘It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.’
He answered them, ‘He who made me well said to me, “Take up your bed and walk.”’
Then they asked him, ‘Who is the Man who said to you, “Take up your bed and walk”?’ But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.”
Rather than rejoicing over a miracle, the religious leaders condemned an act of obedience because it occurred on the Sabbath. Their focus on regulation over redemption exposes how law without love blinds the heart.
John 5:14-16 — Jesus Identified
“Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, ‘See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.’
The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.”
Jesus warns the man to turn from sin, linking physical healing to spiritual restoration. Yet the miracle becomes the spark of persecution. Love acted, and legalism responded with hostility.
John 5:17–30 — Jesus Defends His Authority
John 5:17 — “My Father Has Been Working Until Now…”
“But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.’”
This single statement reveals divine identity. God’s sustaining work never ceases, and Jesus shares in that work. The leaders recognized the claim: equality with God.
John 5:18–23 — Equality with God
“Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.
Then Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner…
For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father.’”
Jesus declares complete unity with the Father: shared work, shared love, shared authority. To honor the Son is to honor the Father. This is the heart of Christian confession. Jesus is one with God.
John 5:24–30 — Life and Judgment through the Son
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life…”
Belief in Christ transfers us from death to life. He possesses life in Himself and authority to judge. The hour will come when every grave will hear His voice: the faithful to resurrection life, the rebellious to condemnation. The Son of Man is both Savior and Judge.
John 5:31–47 — Witnesses to Jesus’ Identity
John 5:31–35 — The Testimony of John the Baptist
“If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. There is another who bears witness of Me… He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.”
John’s testimony pointed people to the Light, but Jesus’ works are the greater witness. The Son’s authority is not rooted in human validation—it flows from the Father.
John 5:36–40 — The Testimony of Works and the Father
“But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me… You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.”
Miracles serve as visible testimony of divine mission. Yet the leaders, though experts in Scripture, miss the One to whom the Scriptures point. Knowledge without faith leaves the heart unchanged.
John 5:41–47 — Rejection by the Jews
“I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive… For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.”
Jesus exposes the root of unbelief: a love for human approval rather than divine truth. Even Moses, whom they revere, testified of Him. To reject Jesus is to reject the very Scriptures they claim to uphold.
Summary
The Pool of Bethesda shows humanity’s need; the healing reveals divine mercy; the ensuing dialogue unveils the full majesty of Christ. He is not only the Healer of bodies but the Giver of Life and Judge of all. Those who hear His voice and believe have already passed from death to life.